Boards criticised for sub-standard exams

Islamabad-A large number of examination boards are accused of producing sub standard quality exams in country, the National Assembly (NA) standing committee was told on Monday.

The NA Standing Committee on Federal Education & Professional Training held the meeting at Federal Board of Intermediate & Secondary Education (FBISE) and was briefed on the performance of federal education board.

Chairman FBISE, Ikram Ali Malik, while briefing the committee said that there are 29 examination and three technical boards in the country for conducting examinations but are not well coordinated.

He complained that the boards lack examination designing, the question papers are heterogeneous and deficiencies are reported in the marking process.

“Unfortunately, these reasons result in sub-standard quality and non-standardized examination output,” he said.

He said that 1349 institutions are affiliated with FBISE and 301027 students are registered across the country. In federal territory, 387 institutions are affiliated; Punjab has 587, Sindh 46, Khyber Pakthunkhwa (KPK) 108, Balochistan 37, Azad Jammu Kashmir 55, Gilgit-Baltistan 78 and Overseas 51. FBISE chairman said that only the federal board has the capacity to conduct examinations for students outside of country.

The chairman FBISE stated that memorization and rote learning are still the prevalent methods of learning among students. This creates difficulties for them while taking aptitude tests required for undergraduate admission.

“Non-standardized examination output by BISE’s compelled employers and institutions of higher learning to conduct alternate test in their recruitment and admission to undergraduate programs,” said the chairman FBISE.

He said that a research conducted by FBISE revealed that a range of reduced performance in entry test is from 19.17 to 37.81 percent in relation to HSSC marks with 51.2percent.

The study also said that the performance of BISE in provincial capitals and major cities has been relatively mediocre in comparison to their counterparts with larger suburban and rural participation. This is despite the availability of better facilities in urban areas.

The FBISE research also found that higher education institutions are more demanding while the students’ performance is below the mark. The chairman FBISE added that FBISE is running its expenditure on 456 staff members with the indigenously generated budget of Rs157.49. Member Standing Committee Dr. Zulfiqar Bhatti remarked that the FBISE should take measures to control the cheating trend in examinations.

“A centralized system should be adopted to make the examination system transparent,” he said.

MNA Rida Khan added that the board must install CCTV cameras in examination halls and monitor the premises from the headquarters.

The Committee also reconsidered The Sir Syed (Centre for Advance Studies in Engineering) Institute of Technology Islamabad Bill, 2016 in detail.

The committee deferred the Bill under the direction of the CASE management to fulfill the pre-requisites pointed out by the HEC as well as obtaining NOC from CDA for construction of the institute building as soon as possible.

Dr. Muhammad Usman Awan, Advisor, Quality Enhancement Cell University of Punjab, Lahore also gave presentation to the Committee on The Development of Educational Supply Chain Management Concept in detail.